Business Coaching, Team-Building, Business Skills Training, Executive Coaching, Communication Skills Seminars, Leadership & Professional Development

Most of our clients have a high level of ability in their core business operations or trade. They also have developed at least survivable mastery of bookkeeping, project management, sales, and customer relations.

However, most of our clients had not been able to take advantage of the many opportunities available to them, which would help them improve their employee engagement and productivity, reduce their costs, achieve consistent quality, and increase their Net Profits.

It’s not a matter of intelligence (they are smart, intelligent, and savvy enough to start their own business and run a successful business for a good number of years). It certainly is not an issue of laziness (small business owners tend to overwork themselves, if anything). It’s not even a lack of attention to detail (many business owners get themselves stuck on working through too many details).

It is mainly a factor of not ever being fully exposed to all of the twelve essential disciplines that they need to master to break through to the level of sophistication that creates sustained Profitability, Competitive Strength, and Brand Success . They have been busy creating and developing their business allowing limited time to research classic (and successful) business practices beyond their primary operations. Many Business Owners have achieved a certain level of success without ever being introduced to some of these disciplines.

It is also difficult for one person to master all 12 essential disciplines, which works against the typical small business owner’s tendency to directly control all aspects of their business. The more successful strategy is when the business owner develops the needed mastery with capable team members throughout his organization the organization has experts in crucial competencies, but no one is a master of all disciplines. This scenario is more efficient and more capable.

The Balanced Wheel of Expertise

harmony and balance

Experience & research [University Studies and Marketing Research, including studies from Rice and Rutgers Universities, Empire Marketing Research & others.] has shown that there are 12 Essential Disciplines that businesses must master to break through to the level of sophistication that creates sustained Profitability, Competitive Strength, and Brand Success.

Another way to look at this is to consider that the Most Successful Businesses of the 21st Century (in terms of sustained profitability, competitive strength, and brand success) have developed a high-level mastery in these areas and subsequently focus high energy and attention on these 12 essential disciplines.

  1. Operations (Craft/Product) Management
  2. Setting SMART Goals
  3. Strategic Focus & Planning
  4. People Engagement / Employee Empowerment, H.R. & Safety Compliance
  5. Implementing Quality Management Systems – 10 Principles
  6. Effective Communications
  7. Sales & Marketing
  8. Project Management, Scheduling & Resource Management
  9. Finance & Accounting
  10. Generating Creativity, Ideas & Innovation
  11. Time Mastery
  12. Striking a Balance of Personal Wellness & Business Success (often the most neglected)

The ideal situation is to have a Balanced Wheel of Expertise within your organization, i.e., whereas you have an adequate level of competence in all the essential Disciplines. This expertise does not normally reside solely within one person but is achieved through your leadership team’s development. Your team members should be trained for mastery, focusing on one or several (few) disciplines, subsequently coordinating and sharing their expertise with the rest of the team.

Just as a balanced vehicle wheel rolls smoothly and efficiently, a balanced wheel of expertise helps your business operate smoothly and effectively (see below).

balance wheel of expertise

However, most businesses, especially entrepreneurial organizations, tend to have a skewed or unbalanced wheel of expertise – strong in some areas, weaker in others, and very undeveloped in still other disciplines.

balance wheel of expertise

Reasons why Businesses don’t achieve a Balanced Wheel of Expertise:

  1. The Business Owner is too busy surviving
  2. The Business Owner is not aware of all the 12 Disciplines
  3. The Business Owner doesn’t know how to develop the weak areas of Expertise
  4. The Business Owner believes it’s an impossible task
  5. The Business Owner tries to do too much at once
  6. The Business Owner doesn’t see the value in each Discipline
  7. The Business Owner doesn’t have the internal Assets to Develop all 12 Essential Disciplines
  8. The Business Owner doesn’t want to relinquish any Control

So how do you approach this issue logically and systematically? Let’s take a look at each Discipline individually.

We help business owners tweak their practices and procedures to develop the strategies, processes, and competencies they need to exploit the available opportunities. The results can secure lower costs, more engaged employees, loyal clients, and higher profits.

For more information on each of these points, email us at info@DIADconsulting.com.

Fill out our contact form to receive 2-hours free consulting via ZOOM or Travel — costs may apply to locations outside the Cincinnati, OH area.

Visit us at www.DIADconsulting.com

A Classic Example

All too often, businesses of all sizes learn too late that employee relations are just as crucial as customer relations. You need talented people with good attitudes who are dedicated to their work to maximize your key processes’ capabilities.  Conversely, lackluster people, who are poor performers, will be ineffective or even sabotage the best of processes.

Engaged Employees Are Productive and Happy
A term used more and more often in business is “employee engagement.” In the past, this would have been called company morale. Whatever you call it, savvy business owners are learning that it’s crucial to find ways to keep their employees invested in the company and its success. Engagement is something beyond the paycheck; it’s a direct product of employee empowerment, good communications, and the owner sharing their vision for the business.

Good employee relations begin with making employees a part of what the essence of the business is. There are five critical factors to developing employees who are engaged with your Strategic Goals:

  1. Emotional attachment: Those with an emotional attachment to their work are driven to influence the company’s success positively. These people are willing to invest above and beyond the ordinary, work toward a common purpose, and make sacrifices for future success.
  2. Empowerment: Empowerment is the process of enabling or authorizing an individual to think, behave, take action, and control work and decision-making in autonomous ways. It is the state of feeling self-empowered to take control of one’s destiny.
  3. Involvement: Good lines of communication create an atmosphere in which employees want to participate. Engaged employees are the ones who volunteer when others exert energy looking for ways to avoid extra work.
  4. Commitment: Numerous recent and prevailing studies confirm that Empowered and Engaged employees are more profitable, more productive, customer-focused, safer, and less likely to look for employment elsewhere.
  5. Employees Feel Rewarded and Recognized for Empowered Behavior

One of the best ways to get engaged and empowered employees is to train them and involve them in energizing Team Building exercises.  In reality, this is an essential element that is common to all the recognized “most successful businesses of the 21st Century.”

According to a study published in Personnel Public Management, it was revealed that training by itself increased productivity by 22.4%, while training combined with coaching increased productivity by 88%. That’s a 400% increase in results.

“DIAD” means Bonded Pair; what we do is pair up your talents and experience with our business savvy and experience to form a powerful bond that creates a dynamic synergy that produces desired results quickly and effectively.  Let us help you develop your Dream Team today.

Email us at info@diadconsulting.com

Fill out our Contact form to receive 2-hours free consulting via ZOOM or Travel — costs may apply to locations outside the Cincinnati, OH area.

Want to Learn More?

Send us a message on our contact form!

Home